Skyworth Group has concluded the acquisition of Allied Electronics Corporation Limited (Altron)’s set-top box manufacturing business (Altech UEC South Africa). Altron announced in Q3 2018 that it was close to selling off the business, with the Competition Commission giving the regulatory nod of approval in Q1 2019.

Inside Secure, a mobile, banking, IoT, and SoC security specialist, will acquire video and media security specialist Verimatrix. The all-cash transaction – valued at $143 million and backed by One Equity Partners - is expected to close in Q1 2019.

US telecommunications equipment maker CommScope will acquire Arris, in a $7.4B deal valued at $5.69 billion, with the difference comprised of CommScope’s assumption of Arris’s debt. As part of the deal, the Carlyle Group will make a $1M equity investment in CommScope for an approximate 16% stake in the new company.
CommScope’s CEO Eddie Edwards has claimed the two companies’ product lines are complementary, and that the combined company will “enable end-to-end wired and wireless communications infrastructure solutions that neither company could otherwise achieve on its own.”
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

Nokia has sold the brunt its digital video business – comprising the firm’s CDN, Cloud DVR, and experience personalization solutions – to Canadian private equity firm Volaris Group. Volaris is likely to reconstitute the video assets under the Velocix brand. Nokia, for its part, will retain its system integration business, but will continue to market and sell Velocix’s solutions – becoming, in effect, a Velocix channel partner. The value of the transaction is not known.

Verizon recently announced the rollout of its 5G wireless home broadband service in the US, 5G Home, with orders opening September 13th, 2018 and launch beginning October 1st in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.
The company is touting typical speeds of approximately 300 Mbps, peaking at 1 Gigabit, with no data caps. The service is priced at $50/month for existing Verizon subscribers, and $70/month for non-subscribers, and comes with three months of YouTube TV free. Subscribers also receive their choice of a free Google Chromecast Ultra or Apple TV 4K.

Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) segment, acquired by private equity firm Permira, has been redubbed Synamedia. Although the transaction is not final – we expect it to conclude during the second half of calendar-year 2018 – Synamedia has enumerated four solution areas that will define the firm’s focus: anti-piracy services; RDK, Android TV, and one-way set-top box middleware solutions; cloud DVR solutions; low-latency OTT and ABR streaming solutions.

Nagra has divested its SmarDTV business. The firm announced during the first quarter of 2018 that it was looking for a buyer; in Neotion – the French conditional access vendor – Nagra has found one. Neotion will acquire SmarDTV’s conditional access module (CAM) and pay TV set-top box assets, while Nagra will retain SmarDTV’s plants in the UK and France, as well as SmarDTV’s entire patent portfolio. The USD 20m transaction hinges upon Nagra’s licensing the SmarDTV patents to Neotion, and to Neotion’s newly created SmarDTV Global affiliate.

Wyplay has become the latest set-top middleware and UX vendor to embrace the Android TV platform, and market a custom launcher for Android TV’s Operator Tier. Debuted in Q1 2017, and formalized in the second and third quarters of the same year, Operator Tier affords Android TV adoptees considerably more latitude in designing a device’s home-screen, app carousel, icons, and content placement.

In the media management market, migration from selling equipment-based solutions to service-based solutions is deploying massively this year. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of global revenue was service-based, growing to 63 percent by the end of 2017 and expected to grow to 66 percent in 2021. The overall market grew 7 percent in 2016 and 5 percent in 2017, but this growth rate is expected to slow to 4 percent in 2021.

Subsequent to a lengthy review of its Service Provider video business, Cisco is divesting its Service Provider Video Software Solutions (SPVSS) segment.
Private equity firm Permira will acquire Cisco’s video security, video experience, and video processing assets. While neither the name of the new entity, nor the value of transaction has been disclosed, it is known that Abraham Peled – NDS’ former CEO and Chairman – will reclaim his role as Chairman of the new company. Subject to regulatory approval, Cisco anticipates that the sale will complete by the end of October 2018, or within Q1 of Cisco’s 2019 financial year.

Telstra has written down to zero the value of its Ooyala video business, and recorded a $273 million impairment. A mere four years after the Australian telco’s acquiring the Silicon Valley startup for $270 million, Telstra will attempt to offload Ooyala’s Adtech assets, and retain the firm’s video processing and online video platform businesses.

Subsequent to a yearlong review of its media and video-technology assets, Ericsson is divesting its Media Solutions business, and choosing to retain Red Bee Media (née Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services) in full.
51 percent of Ericsson Media Solutions – comprising Mediaroom, Envivio, Azuki, Fabrix, and Tandberg assets – will be transferred to private equity firm One Equity. Ericsson’s 49 percent stake will continue to be reported under the company’s Other business segment. Red Bee Media – comprising Ericsson’s playout, content discovery, managed media services, and creative assets – will continue to operate as an independent, fully-owned subsidiary.
Subject to regulatory approval, the Media Solutions deal is expected to close in Q3; financial terms have not been disclosed.

OTT solutions provider NeuLion is set to acquire Saffron Digital. While the value of the transaction is not known, it is clear that the deal will allow the two technology-and-services companies to fill gaps in their respective solution portfolios.

AT&T is set to acquire OTT solutions and managed-media- services provider Quickplay Media. Although the terms of the deal are unknown, the sale almost certainly surpasses USD 100m in value; private equity group Madison Dearborn Partners purchased a majority stake in Quickplay in Q3 2012 for roughly USD 100m.

The heavens have aligned for two of the media-and-entertainment industry’s technology giants. Analytics, program guide and IP-licensing kingpin Rovi will acquire OTT software, UI pioneer and DVR progenitor TiVo. Valued at roughly USD 1.1 billion, the deal remains subject to closing conditions, is expected to conclude by the end of the third quarter, 2016, and will usher in the disappearance of the Rovi brand entirely.

IBM has agreed to acquire Clearleap, a US based company who provides over-the-top (OTT) video solutions to the media sector. Clearleap’s OTT stack and SaaS solutions will be integrated into the IBM Cloud platform, and collectively, the combined portfolio will be positioned to help media companies reduce the complexity and expense of delivering digital content. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Sky unveils its new Sky Q multimedia home gateway set-top boxes
UK Satellite pay TV and ISP provider Sky has announced its new Sky Q set-top box family. The new product range, set to launch early 2016, features two flavours of multimedia home gateways (MHG): the standard box “Sky Q” and its premium equivalent “Sky Q Silver”, there is also a companion thin client branded the “Sky Q Mini”...

UK pay TV market leader Sky today unveiled a new suite of premium products, grouped together under the Sky Q brand, designed to offer the most complete and joined-up TV viewing experience possible. The service will be made available to the operator’s satellite customers in the UK and Ireland in early 2016.